The Death God Of Fire
by FenrisRoots
Summary: Discontinued: Naruto dies during the Mizuki incident and finds a new home in the form of soul society.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, just to make everything clear, this story was written awhile ago and I ended up taking off this site however I've decided to repost it and many others that I've discontinued or are awaiting a rewrite.

ALL of my active stories are posted on the profile for Fenris187 and none of the fics here will be updated.

Also, I own no IP at all right now and make no money off this free access fanfiction.

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Sitting in the middle of a clearing was a young boy wearing a vibrant orange jumpsuit, while a pair of green goggles taking pride of place on his forehead. His bright blue eyes were not visible courtesy of them being closed due to the massive grin that threatened to split his face in two. On his cheeks where a series of whisker like birthmarks that gave him a slightly fox like complexion.

At his feet was a large scroll with the word 'forbidden' written in large kanji over the seal keeping it closed. The reason the boy had this scroll at his feet was simple, one of his teachers had told him that if he learned one technique from the object then he would be allowed to graduate, Of course he had questioned his teacher over why he would be allowed to graduate by stealing a forbidden scroll but the man had simply told him that it wasn't really forbidden and it was labelled as such solely for the purpose of the test, which was why the techniques contained within it were beyond the level of your average genin but no higher (or so he was told).

So here he was, his heart beating hard as he removed the seal and proceeded to open the document, before he suddenly found it falling… wait, it was his hands that were falling… but his hands were still held up by him so how could they be falling?

Soon fear consumed his mind as he saw a large, spiky yellow object fall in front of him, with the handle of a kunai sticking out of it and a red stain appearing slowly… he realised exactly what it was, it was HIS head.

Snapping his neck around he saw something that would forever be etched into his mind, a maniacal grin on the face of a young, silver haired man wearing a bandana while a pair of massive shuriken were strapped to his back… it was his sensei, the man that told him about the scroll and test, and had obviously just murdered him.

"Hah, I can't believe it was that easy, what an idiot to actually believe that there was a makeup exam like that," the treacherous teacher muttered to himself before rolling over the blonds' corpse and picking up the scroll, closing it and leaving the area.

It seemed like an eternity to Naruto as he stared at his own, lifeless face, his trademark grin still plastered on his face, proof that he had been killed quickly and painlessly. Simply staring left a painful void in his heart, his dreams of becoming Hokage and being accepted by the village had been taken from him by his own sensei…. By someone he had trusted explicitly.

Suddenly he was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a hand grip his shoulder, resulting in his head jerking to face behind him to look at whoever it was that had just touched him.

He wasn't expecting what he saw. He was expecting a monstrous visage, something that invoked fear simply by looking at it, instead what he got was a man with black hair in a similar style to him, wearing a simple set of a waist length robe and a pair of hakama, both in black, while a katana was strapped to his waist.

"I'd advise against looking for too long, it's accelerating the decay of your chain of fate," the strange man said calmly.

"W-who are you? What are you?" the young blond asked as he tried his best to not cry over his own death.

"(sigh) who I am isn't important, however what I am is," the strange man said seriously, "I'm a shinigami."

"Really? I was expecting something a little scarier," the whiskered child said with a mirthless laugh.

"Yeah, I get that a lot around here… but still, you don't have that long before you start to become a hollow if the rate your chain's decaying stays the same, don't worry too much right now, you can ask all the questions you want when you reach the afterlife," the 'shinigami' told him before drawing his sword and placing it's butt to the boy's forehead before he had time to respond.

All of a sudden, Naruto's body felt light, as he lost all control over it and all of a sudden his vision was obscured by a bright light.

XXX XXX XXX

Umino Iruka couldn't help but feel his blood run cold as he looked at the lifeless body of the student that reminded him of himself back when he was in the academy. However thinking as a ninja that had been sent out to search for him, he couldn't help but take note of the fact that the forbidden scroll wasn't in his possession.

So with a heavy heart, he lifted his former students corpse before making his way back to the village. Hopefully it would be possible to extract information from the blonds' brain post mortem and discovering why he had stolen the scroll in the first place… and also who had killed him.

XXX XXX XXX

Rubbing his eyes as the blinding light died down, Naruto was shocked to see himself on a perfectly normal street. He quickly ducked into a nearby alley in an attempt to get his bearings as he tried to understand how he felt.

He didn't know how to describe the feeling of his body, it just seemed so… relaxed compared to how it felt when he was alive. Back then he would always feel the need to move, if he didn't he would start to feel uncomfortable and that feeling would just keep growing until he couldn't stop himself from contracting his muscles, but now, that feeling was gone, he no longer needed to move like he used to.

Of course he would have preferred to still be alive but it was obvious that he had lost his only chance at living and all because he had trusted someone… his dreams, his ambitions, everything he had worked so hard for had been stolen from him by someone he had trusted.

It was then that he noticed that he had started to grit his teeth together and clench his fists, something he had never done unintentionally before. Calming himself down thinking about his favourite people, he managed to get himself back under control, until he realised something… he would never be capable of having ramen at the Ichiraku's again, he wouldn't be able to see the Hokage, or Sakura-chan's smile again, and with that fresh in his mind, his anger returned full force, as his mind focused on the person behind it all, Mizuki.

Back when he was alive, he thought he hated Sasuke, but now he realised, he simply disliked that bastard, now he knew what hate was like as his mind focused on his former sensei, as he wanted to kill, no he wanted to mutilate that bastard with his entire being.

But he realised that no matter how much he wanted to, he would never be capable of killing him now that he was dead, however it didn't stop him from gaining satisfaction from imagining him doing pretty much everything except rape the man.

After gaining some form of satisfaction from his imagination, the blond proceeded to try and find out as much as he could about his current situation and immediately noticed that he was no longer dressed in his usual jumpsuit, but a rather plain looking set of grey pants and jacket.

With a sigh, he decided to make his way back onto the street and start asking people about this new world.

XXX XXX XXX

Sitting in a large office within Konohagakure no Sato was Iruka facing the aged leader, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the sandaime Hokage. Both were waiting for the results of the mind dive that had been arranged on the blond corpse, wanting to know why the blond had done something so stupid as to steal the forbidden scroll.

They had been waiting for a couple of hours with bated breaths when there was finally a knock on the offices door.

"Come in," the aged leader ordered, resulting in the door being opened as a middle aged man with long blond hair tied into a ponytail entered the room.

"Hokage-sama, I've search through Naruto's last memories and it would appear as though he was set up by the academy instructor called Mizuki," the man stated calmly, shocking the youngest of the group with the information, while the aged leader simply stared with a fury unlike no other hidden in his eyes.

"Tenzo," came a single word from the Hokage's mouth before a man wearing a bear mask appeared out of the shadows, "take you team, track down and capture Mizuki, I want him back alive."

"Hai Hokage-sama," the bear masked ninja stated before vanishing to fulfil his latest mission.

"What are you planning on doing Hokage-sama?" the blond haired man asked calmly as he looked at the aged Kages cold rage.

"T&I will have a new toy to keep their skills sharp," came the simple reply from the old man as he simply stared into space, even forgetting to smoke his favourite pipe in his anger.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto was definitely not having a good time. He had simply been wandering around in an attempt to get a basic idea of his new environment and what happened? He got lost in a forest before being attacked by a group of giant monsters with holes in their chests and white masks with different designs, with some having streaks of red present on their surface.

He had heard off someone he had spoken to that these beasts were called 'hollows' and that they ate anything with any form of spiritual power… so here he was doing his best to dodge the surprisingly nimble demons while trying to kill them and stop them from chasing him.

Of course he would've stood a better chance if he could still channel chakra but for some reason he couldn't even feel the slightest hint of it in his now dead form and without chakra he simply wanted a blade of any sort since his strikes were causing more damage to his hands than the hollows, and as such he was being forced to not only dodge the beasts attacks but also make every strike count by hitting a vital point. He would also admit that it would've been a lot easier if he could trick them into striking each other but for some reason they were very careful to not catch each other, something that Naruto couldn't understand after what he had heard about them off the people he had spoken to.

Unfortunately he wasn't as fast as the beasts and they were adjusting to his academy trained movements and he suddenly found himself getting impacted by a large fist that proceeded to launch him into a nearby tree, knocking the wind out of him and preventing him from escaping the beasts as they surrounded his coughing form.

Looking up he realised just what was going to happen, once again he was going to die before he had a chance to do anything worthwhile, just like before… once again his mind drifted off towards the traitor that had murdered him for his own personal gain and his hate once again surfaced as he looked at the beasts before him, they were just like Mizuki, they were going to kill him for their own personal gain, they were going to end his life before he could even come up with a new reason to live.

"And are you just going to let them eat you?" came an unfamiliar voice, one that in his hate, he didn't even care where it came from.

"No… I'll kill them, I'll kill anyone and anything that tries to end me," Naruto ground out as he clenched his fists and proceeded to raise himself, looking at the hollows as they argued over which one would get to eat him.

"Then take a hold of my blade and call my name," the strange voice called out to him.

"Call out your name… then Hikari sae mo moe: Kagutsuchi(1)" suddenly the once arguing group of hollows felt a power unlike anything they had ever felt before and they couldn't help but feel fear at the power they were feeling.

Turning to face their quarry, the monsters couldn't help but stare helplessly as their once powerless prey stood there, his hand covered in a pitch black gauntlet with sharp claws.

"Turn to ash, trash," came the cold order from the spiky haired child as he swung his hand as a torrent of pitch black flames erupted from the guantlet, effortlessly igniting them and causing their screams of agony to ring in his ears for a few seconds before the pained cries stopped as the hollows were reduced to nothing.

"Hah, try eating me now assholes," and with that last sentence, the whiskered blond collapsed as exhaustion overtook him.

XXX XXX XXX

Mizuki couldn't believe it, he had come so close to escaping and then a group of ANBU had managed to catch him.

However that wasn't what he couldn't believe, he was truly terrified at the idea that he was actually given to T&I not to extract information from but to practice on… which meant that no matter how much he gave them they would still keep torturing him until he literally died.

Oh how he wished he had never thought of killing the blond.

XXX XXX XXX

For once the classroom once occupied by Naruto was silent. No one could believe that their sensei had MURDERED one of their classmates.

A young girl with bright pink hair sat in her seat quietly as she thought back on every interaction she had ever had with the blond and couldn't stop herself from thinking about how cruel she had been to him, turning him down without even giving him a single chance to even prove himself to her.

A young boy with raven coloured hair was even quieter than usual and considering that he was never exactly talkative, made it quite an achievement. His mind was currently focussed on the whiskered blond. Despite the one sided rivalry they possessed, Naruto was the one person in the class that could actually relate to him and now he was dead… just like that he no longer breathed… just like he could've turned out if his brother hadn't spared him for some unknown reason.

Another boy, this time with a puppy sitting on his head let a couple of tears escape his eyes as he remembered skipping class with the blond and how he would liven up the village with his constant pranking. Yet despite the blonds skills (or lack of) he would've happily been teamed up with him, because he knew that the blond would've covered his back if they ever got into trouble.

A young girl with long blond hair tied into a ponytail also took some time to remember the blond, how he would transform into a naked woman just to annoy Iruka-sensei and how the Chūnin would always fall for it, thinking about it brought a smile to her face as she thought about some of the blonds other pranks and how he would always make a situation more bearable by goofing around and making everyone laugh.

At the back of the classroom where two boys, one with dark hair tied into a pineapple, while the other was 'big boned' and wore underwear on his head. The only thing that showed that the duo cared at all was that the smaller boy was sitting up while the larger one just sat there unmoving. Considering that the smaller one never sat up AT ALL and the larger one never stopped eating displayed that they too were affected by the news.

Out of all the students there was one that simply gave a nod of respect before returning to an emotionless state, he had been raised to discard his emotions and rely on logic in everything he ever did.

Then there was the last notable member of the class, a young girl with lavender eyes and short, dark blue hair. Unlike the rest of the class she wasn't grieving, instead she was desperately trying to convince herself that it was all a cruel joke and that the blond would just barge into the classroom and call them all suckers. But as time passed and Iruka proceeded to call out the team placements, she couldn't help but break into tears.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as consciousness returned to him, desperately hoping that everything had just been a nightmare. Looking upwards he noticed a white ceiling, before turning his head to the side and noticing someone wearing a white haori with the kanji for four written within a rhombus in the centre of the back., leaning over someone on a bed next to him.

Quickly figuring out that what had happened wasn't a dream, Naruto couldn't help but let out a sad sigh that was picked up by the stranger who turned to face him.

Now that he was capable of seeing the person from the front he realised that it was a woman with long black hair braided in front of her. She wore a similar outfit to the stranger who had sent him to this strange world, though with an obi worn around her waist.

"Hello, I will admit that I wasn't expecting you to wake up this soon," the woman stated with a soft tone and a small smile.

The blond was about to respond enthusiastically when he remembered his death and suddenly his mind was filled with images of what this stranger might be attempting to do. With his mind focused, he decided to cut out any pleasantries and get straight to the point.

"Who are you, where am I and why am I here?" he asked in a tone that left no room for argument.

Suddenly he couldn't help but feel nervous as the woman smiled a sickly sweet smile before walking over to him and before he could react, she had nailed him in the gut.

"I would appreciate it if you would at least show some gratitude to someone that decided to nurse you back to health," the dark haired woman stated as the blond coughed violently in an attempt to get his breath back, "but to answer your questions, my name is Unohana Retsu, Taichō of the fourth division. You are currently in our barracks and you are here because someone found you laying unconscious where a group of hollows were detected," the newly dubbed Unohana stated calmly.

"Fourth division? As in the sewage workers?" the whiskered child asked as he repeated what someone had told him when he was information gathering.

"We are not sewage workers, we are medics but many people don't see us that way," the captain informed him against what he had been told previously.

"Oh, sorry. I only died a few hours ago so I still don't know much," Naruto told her before clutching his mouth as he remembered that he shouldn't let himself trust anyone anymore.

"Did you just say you only died a few hours ago?" Retsu asked with a hint of surprise in her voice, earning a nod off the young blond who decided that there was no point in lying when he had already slipped up, "that is incredible, to think that you have already activated your shinigami powers after just a few hours."

"Is that special?" Naruto asked, he had already learned that every shinigami was once a human courtesy of his information gathering session.

"Indeed it is, most people take several years just to realise they have the potential to use shinigami powers and then several more to unlock them," Unohana told him seriously, "may I ask how you died?"

"No, I don't want to talk about it," the blond said without hesitation.

"I see, well then I won't pry anymore but I will ask that you speak with the Sōtaichō before you decide to do anything else," Unohana said calmly before turning away from him.

"Well there is one problem with that, I don't know where this 'Sōtaichō' stays or how to get there," Naruto said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Well then, just stay here while I get someone to take you to him," she told him before walking out of the room and leaving him with only the other sleeping occupants.

"Can you still hear me Uzumaki Naruto?" came the same voice from before. Now that he actually paid attention to it, he noticed that it possessed a deep and powerful tone while at the same time, it seemed impossible for him to fear it.

"Who are you?" the young blond asked quietly, looking around for the owner of the voice.

"You already know my name," the voice said calmly.

"But that doesn't answer who you are, a name means nothing without a face to put it to," the whiskered child stated seriously.

"Indeed, tell me, do you see a nodachi near you? The sheath should be red with black flames decorating it," the voice told him.

Deciding to follow the strange voice, he quickly noticed the weapon he was told about. The sheath was just as it had been described and was easily as long as he was tall, though only a couple of inches wide. The hilt was shaped like a flame and pitch black, while the grip possessed the same design as the sheath.

"Now, pick up the blade and lay it on your lap," letting out a sigh of frustration, Naruto proceeded to follow the voices instructions, pulling the blade free from its sheath, causing him to marvel at the pitch black blade before sharpening his senses in case it was a trap, "now the real problem starts, if you want to see me you will have to focus purely on the blade and let your heart touch it."

"Let my heart touch it?" Naruto asked in confusion at the way the voice said that.

"I am fully aware of how ridiculous that sounds however it will all make sense when you succeed in this task," the voice assured him, causing the blond to attempt the so called task.

Allowing his breath to slow and his body to relax, Naruto proceeded to concentrate on the large sword currently laying on his lap. He didn't know how long he sat there and try to touch the blade with his heart but he suddenly found himself getting pulled out of his meditation by a now familiar voice.

"May I ask how long you intend on sitting there like that?"

Suddenly opening his eyes, Naruto was about to shout when he realised that he was no longer in the fourth divisions barracks. Instead he found himself sitting in the middle of a traditional Japanese street leading towards a large shrine while black clouds cut off the sky and a heavy rain patted down on the many buildings even though he couldn't feel or hear it.

However it was the person in front of him that got his attention, a man easily twice his height, wearing black armour, with every edge cut in a flame like pattern, while a helmet with similar stylisation covered his head, with a partial mask covering everything except his eyes, which possessed a black sclera and red iris's. Strapped to his back was a large flame shaped blade that just like the rest of his armour, was pitch black.

"Hello, I am Kagutsuchi and I would like to take the time to welcome you to your mind," the armoured figure stated calmly, causing the young boy's eyes to widen in shock.

"Wait, how can you be here if this is my mind?" the blond asked loudly.

"It is because I am your Zanpakutō, or in other words, a sword made out of your fighting spirit and spiritual energy," the armoured figure stated seriously.

"You mean you're my fighting spirit?" Naruto couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"In simple terms, yes. But for now I would prefer to talk to you about Mizuki's betrayal," the spirit told him.

"What's to talk about? I trusted him and he betrayed me," the azure eyed child stated coldly as he thought back to the event.

"And how much did you trust him?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Naruto responded in confusion.

"Why did you trust him?" the Zanpakutō asked him seriously.

"Because he was my sensei," the young child said.

"And would you have trusted him if he wasn't your sensei?" came the spirits simple question, causing Naruto to think back to every interaction he had ever had with the silver haired Chūnin.

"No, every time I talked to him I always felt he wasn't what he made himself out to be but he was my sensei so I never gave it any thought," the spiky haired child admitted to his blade.

"Exactly, your gut told you that he couldn't be trusted but you ignored it because of his position, that is why I will tell you this, do not close your heart off from others but never ignore your gut because you have a good one and it will never fail you," Kagutsuchi told him, placing a surprisingly warm hand to his shoulder in the process, "now that is all we need to talk about right now, it would be best if you return to a conscious state before Unohana-san returns."

"Hai partner," Naruto said before proceeding to focus on his body and leave his mindscape.

Once the blond had left his mindscape, Kagutsuchi looked towards the sky and the newly revealed portions of sky, though there was still no sun visible.

"I hope someone can clear this sky and make the sun shine," the armoured figure muttered to itself before heading towards the large shrine.

XXX XXX XXX

Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto once again lay his eyes on his sword, which he immediately sheathed before strapping it to his waist.

Once his blade was firmly secured to him, he proceeded to sit on the bed he had woken up in and wait for the Taichō to return.

"I'm sorry for taking so long but most of the division is out completing their out of wartime duties so it took awhile to find someone," the dark haired woman told him with a kind smile as she walked through the main entrance to the room.

"Actually, I'm glad you took so long, it gave me time to get my head straight," Naruto told her with a small smile, "and I'm sorry about before, I hope it isn't too late to say thank you for helping me."

"Don't worry about it, from the way you acted I would guess that you had a bad death and were still trying to cope with it," Unohana said kindly, "now I think I should introduce you to my fukutaichō."

Immediately a young man with shoulder length black hair and black eyes walked through the same door the Taichō. Once again the new person was wearing what Naruto had come to realise was the standard uniform for shinigami.

"Hello, my name is Yamada Seinosuke and I will escort you to the Sōtaichō ," the young man suddenly said with a small bow.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the young blond stated calmly as he returned the bow.

"Well then Uzumaki-san, if you would please follow me," Seinosuke said before turning around and leaving the room, Naruto follow right behind him.

The journey was traversed in silence as the older of the two decided to not spare the child a second glance, not that it bothered him, otherwise he would've attempted to start a conversation with the fukutaichō.

"We're here," the fourth division member stated as they stopped outside a large door, "make sure to show the Sōtaichō proper respect."

Without even giving the blond the chance to ask him what he meant by that, the second seat knocked on the door and opened it, revealing a large office with a large desk at the end, and behind that desk was an old man.

The man was bald, though a very long, plaited white beard and eyebrows that were literally long enough to frame his face. Just above his right eye were a pair of scars that crossed each other and covered most of his forehead. He was wearing roughly the same clothing as Unohana though his haori seemed to just rest on his shoulders instead of being worn.

"Yamamoto Sōtaichō, I was ordered to bring this child to you by Unohana-Taichō," Seinosuke stated to the old man.

"I see, you are dismissed," Yamamoto stated with an air of authority that the younger man immediately obeyed, leaving the room and closing the door, "so you are the child that recently activated his shinigami powers."

"That would appear to be the case," the whiskered child stated as he attempted to look in the older man's eyes, only to fail due to the fact that they were nothing more than tiny slits.

"Show me your blade," was the next thing to come from the old mans mouth, his tone commanding such authority that Naruto couldn't have disobeyed him if he wanted to.

And so placing his right hand on the grip, he pulled the pitch black sword out of it's sheath… well he would've if he knew how to. It was something he had never thought of about it before, but even with his arm fully extended the blade still had about a fifth of itself contained within the red and black sheath.

"I see you don't have any experience drawing your blade, then again a nodachi isn't the easiest of swords to unsheathe," the bearded man told him calmly. "when you attach you Zanpakutō to your waist you should ensure it is easy to move the sheath and when you draw the blade you should use your right hand to pull the sword out of the sheath while using your left to pull the sheath off the blade."

Quietly listening to the older man's instructions, Naruto loosened the strap on his sheath before pulling the rest of it off his blade, revealing the tip of the black blade to the Sōtaichō.

"Now tell me, would you be interested in attending a school for training shinigami?"

"HELL NO! I hate schools, all they do is make you listen to boring lectures and waste your time doing simple exercises!" the whiskered blond shouted angrily before crossing his arms and pouting.

"Is that so? Well I will admit that the shinigami academy does have lectures, however they never take more than one hour a day, with the rest of the day either learning new skills or practicing old ones," the scarred man stated calmly causing the blond to look at him out of the corner of his eyes.

"Are you being serious?" Naruto asked suspiciously, earning a simple nod confirmation from the Sōtaichō.

"Fine then, I'll give it a shot but if it isn't like you say I'll quit," the azure eyed child stated.

"Well then I guess I'll give you an escort to take you to your new home," Yamamoto told him earning wide eyes off the blond.

XXX XXX XXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but let out a sigh as he looked over everyone that had taken the time out of their day to watch the now deceased academy student get buried. There were only a few people that decided to show up, Iruka being one of them. The only others of notice were a middle aged man who owned a small ramen stand, and his daughter who helped him as both a cook and waitress. There were a few others, mostly ninja that had found the blond a good distraction with his constant pranks and incredible skill at escaping his pursuers, and some of his classmates.

The speech was short. Then again there wasn't much that could be said about the child considering his circumstances and lack of friends, not that it was his fault he didn't have any friends.

The mood was solemn as the coffin was lowered into the six foot deep hole, though everyone couldn't help but think that the beautiful weather made it seem almost as though the gods themselves were celebrating the child's death.

"I hope you can rest in peace Naruto-kun," Sarutobi muttered as the ceremony was finished.

(1) Burn even light: Kagutsuchi


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto had to admit to himself that he had never expected that the academy to have rooms for its students on campus, but at least it made things easier for him.

His room wasn't exactly big but it had a single bed, a desk with some drawers, a small wardrobe, some shelves, a small sink and an en suite with a shower and toilet.

From what he had been told by his escort, he would be sharing a kitchen with the rest of the corridor so he would have to meet his new neighbours sooner or later, though his escort had said that the other occupants of the dorm were also first years so they might be going to classes together.

"Well let's see… I can either chat with my Zanpakutō for a while or go and meet the others in the corridor… I think I'll go and say hi if that's okay with you Kagutsuchi," Naruto said to his blade.

"That is the option I would prefer you took," the black sword told him calmly, causing a slightly confused expression to grace the whiskered blonds face.

"Huh? Why would you want me to ignore you?" the whiskered child asked in confusion.

"I do not want you to ignore me, however I want you to make friends as that will make your inner world a nicer place to live," the spirit of his blade told him seriously.

"Wait, you're saying that making friends will change my mind?" came the spiky haired blonds' shocked response.

"It will change the weather in your mind and by extension, make it a nicer place to stay," Kagutsuchi explained calmly, earning a look of understanding off his 'master'.

"Okay, I get it now, anyway, I'll come and see you later okay?"

"That would be nice."

"Alright then, time to go and see if anyone's in the kitchen," Naruto said to himself before placing his sword on his bed and leaving his new room for the communal area.

Standing outside the door to the kitchen, the young blond took a deep breath, hoping that whoever he was going to meet was friendly before sliding the door open to reveal a pair of children eating some form of snack. One was a young girl with wavy blond hair, blue eyes and a surprisingly curvaceous figure for her age, while the other was a young boy with silver hair that fell to frame his face. What caught Naruto's attention about the boy though was that he kept his eyes slitted almost like the Sōtaichō, but instead of an unreadable expression, this boy had a mischievous grin on his lips, to be perfectly honest, Naruto couldn't help but think that he looked a bit like a fox.

"Uh, hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya," the blond said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Matsumoto Rangiku," the blond stated with a smile while holding her hand out in a handshake gesture, which Naruto accepted.

"Ichimaru Gin," came a calm call from the silver haired boy as he extended his arm in the same manner, which Naruto happily shook after letting go of the girls hand.

"So… what's that you're eating?" the whiskered child asked as he looked at the food, wondering exactly what the strange orange thing with wrinkles was.

"They're dried persimmons, do you want to try some?" Rangiku asked him while moving the snack towards him.

"Are you sure? I don't have anything to give you for it," the blond boy asked in surprise.

"That's okay, we can always get more if we want some," came the simple response from the currently smiling girl.

"Thanks," was all he said as he took a single piece of the dried fruit and popped it into his mouth, "hey, this is quite nice… not the sort of thing I'd eat normally but it's pretty good."

"Well it's our favourite," Gin suddenly said with his grinning expression never changing.

"Oh, well ramen's mine," Naruto said in response, earning disbelieving stares off the other two.

"Ramen? As in the noodles?" Rangiku asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?" the whiskered boy asked curiously.

"Well, no… but it is a little strange, most people just think of it as a cheap meal," came the blank statement from the young girl while the silver haired boy just looked on with a look Naruto knew all too well… it was the same one he always had when he had thought up a new prank.

"So, I like it… and if you put laxatives in my ramen I will consider that the start of a prank war Gin," the spiky haired boy stated with the utmost seriousness in his tone.

"Oh, so you're a prankster as well, I guess that 'might' make this more interesting," came the scheduled response with extra emphasis on the 'might'.

"I'll take that as a challenge," Naruto stated seriously as he took a seat.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be much better than me," the silver haired boy said with a smile.

"But of course… you'd be something special if you could even keep up with me on that one," the blond boy said with a smirk, surprisingly reminiscent of the one that was plastered on Gin's face.

"Uh, could you two please stop that, you're beginning to scare me," the other blond said nervously.

"Don't worry Rangiku, you know I won't prank you," Ichimaru stated with a surprisingly kind smile towards the young girl.

"It's not you I'm worried about," came the obvious response from the girl as her eyes drifted towards the other blond.

"Oh please… if we're going to have a prank war then we have to set the rules of engagement," Naruto stated as if it was obvious.

"Rules of engagement?" came Matsumoto's confused reply.

"It is common courtesy in a prank war for each participant to set a single rule that must be followed," Gin informed her calmly earning a nod of confirmation from his opponent, "my rule is that we may each select one person to keep safe from the war."

"Well considering that I don't know anyone I will have to choose my protected later, though I take it that you are going to choose Matsumoto-san," Naruto stated, earning a nod off the other prankster, "well then, my rule will be that we may not prank each other, that way neither of us can be disabled from the war by the other," came Naruto's rule as he let out a smirk at the barely noticeable deflation of the silver haired boy.

"Fine then, since the rules of engagement have been determined, the war starts at the beginning of the second week, that way we will both have time to scope out the academy and prospective victims before starting our fight," Gin stated before the duo shook hands on the agreement.

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" the blue eyed girl muttered as she watched the two accept the rules.

"So… how long have you two known each other?" Naruto asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You're just being paranoid, we've already set the rules of engagement and you're protected under them, so in other words, right now only us three have nothing to worry about," the whiskered blond stated calmly, earning a blank stare off the other blond.

"And you expect me to believe that you will honour your agreement?" the curvy blond asked bluntly.

"Hey! Pranking is a serious occupation! Of course I'm going to honour an agreement on a prank war!" the spiky haired blond shouted indignantly, earning a dumbfounded look off Rangiku.

"How can pranking be serious?" she asked seriously.

"When developing a good prank, you must first select your victim, learn their mannerisms, what they like, what they dislike, what they love and what they fear. Once you have done that you must create a way of using what you've learned against them before setting up the trap. Setting up the trap means being capable of getting your hands on the materials required for any apparatus before being capable of manoeuvring your target into the trap… and the most important point is to leave no proof that you were responsible for the act," Gin explained, causing the girl to stare in shock… she had always thought pranking was supposed to be simple.

"That's right, don't underestimate the difficulty of pulling off an expert prank," the spiky haired boy stated seriously as Rangiku couldn't bring herself to argue with the duo.

"So… how did you do in the entrance exam?" she decided to ask in an attempt to change the subject.

"Huh? What entrance exam?" came the confused reply from the young blond prankster.

"What do you mean 'what entrance exam;', the one you had to take to come here," the blond girl said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"But I didn't take any type of exam," Naruto told her bluntly.

"Fine then, if you didn't take the entrance exam then what are you doing here?" Matsumoto asked him seriously.

"I'm here to learn how to use my shinigami powers of course," Naruto said as he crossed his arms.

"And how do you know that you have shinigami powers if you haven't even sat the exam?" came the question from the other blond.

"Huh? Because a shinigami Taichō said I did," Naruto stated blankly, causing the young girl to blink at him several times.

"And how did they know that?" came a simple question, causing Naruto to look at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"How the hell should I know? I was unconscious at the time," came his simple response.

"So they tested you when you were out cold, that makes more sense than not testing you at all," Rangiku said, finally happy with the information she had gotten.

"Well it's not like I knew they ran tests on me when I was asleep," Naruto claimed truthfully.

"Well, now that that's settled, persimmon anyone?" Ichimaru asked with the smile that would eventually be considered his trademark.

XXX XXX XXX

Entering his new room after finishing talking with the two, Naruto couldn't help but lock the door and collapse on his bed, while making sure not to fall on Kagutsuchi.

"So how did it go?" the Zanpakutō asked calmly as the blond let his mind drift.

"Okay… though I've already gotten myself into a prank war with someone," the blond admitted.

"I see," the sword stated in a blank tone.

"Yeah, to think I haven't even been here two hours and I've already got a rival," Naruto stated with a small laugh before suddenly sitting up cross legged and picking the sword up and placing it on his lap.

It only took a few minutes for the blond to find himself within the raining village that made up his mind. Quickly scanning the small street, Naruto noticed a familiar figure sitting next to a window on one of the higher floors of the shrine and upon realising where the spirit of his sword lay, he proceeded to make his way towards it.

"Hey Kagutsuchi, how ya doing?" Naruto asked upon finding his partner sitting at a small tea table.

"I am doing as well as I can be at the moment, however since you are here I would like to take some time to warn you about my true form," the armoured figure stated in the serious tone it always seemed to use.

"Huh? What do you mean your true form?" the spiky haired child asked in confusion.

"During your fight with those hollows, do you remember how you defeated them?" the figure asked.

"Of course I do, I used that weird black fire you gave me," the blond told it happily.

"Now tell me, what form did I take when that happened?"

"Oh that's easy, you were a… glove?" suddenly the fact that his Zanpakutō was different now to what it had been originally confused him.

"Exactly, that was what you would call a shikai, my true form," Kagutsuchi told him.

"Uh, am I right in thinking that saying your name is what lets you take that form?" the blond asked as he thought back to that time.

"Indeed you are correct. Now there is something you should know about my shikai, my power is unmatched, however in exchange for that power, the amount of energy I require is phenomenal. This means that you can NEVER use me against an ally and you must ONLY use me when you are guaranteed to hit the enemy," the armoured figure told him seriously.

"Huh? Why can't I use you against an ally when sparring?" the whiskered blond asked in confusion.

"My flames absorb light and use the energy gained from it to reach temperatures that cannot be found anywhere. This gives my flames a different property to all others, instead of burning a foe, it vaporizes them… and because of that, nothing can survive a direct hit from my fire," the black clad warrior told him in his usual monotone.

"So you mean…"

"Yes, using me in a spar would prove fatal to your opponent," the spirit confirmed for him.

"Well then… that really sucks," Naruto said with disappointment clear in his voice.

"Perhaps, however it shouldn't prove to be too much of a hindrance as long as you work hard to reach a level where you don't need me," the Zanpakutō stated calmly.

"Yeah, that's right… if I rely on you then I'll never be truly strong," the spiky haired blond muttered in response to his weapons statement.

"Good, then get some sleep, you don't know what tomorrow has in store for you," the blade stated, earning a determined nod off its master who immediately left his mindscape.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto had to admit, the academy was quite a large facility, however most of it was occupied with the countless training fields where students would practice their skills, both inside and out of class.

He was currently dressed in the academy's uniform of a white Kosode with blue stripes running down the shoulder and the academy's emblem visible on the front, while his legs were covered by a simple blue hakama.

He had been on time for the academy's yearly opening speech and nearly fell asleep during the ceremony, though countless years of listening to Iruka drabble on about nothing allowed him to resist the urge.

So now that the speech had finished he and the rest of the first years were wandering the campus looking for their first class, which was proving a little difficult for the group.

Quietly looking at his timetable, Naruto couldn't help but attempt to figure out what he was going to be learning in each class.

If his guess was right then the first class called Hakuda would pretty much be the same as Taijutsu back home… a lot of physical exercises and a little bit of instruction on how to fight with your bare hands.

Then there was the class called Zanjutsu which Naruto could only assume revolved around fighting with your Zanpakutō… something that made the blond happy he seemed to be the only one that had decided to bring his, which was currently strapped to his waist, though the looks he got for it were beginning to make him a little nervous.

After Zanjutsu there was Kidō which Naruto could only guess was a Shinigami's version of ninjutsu, though he had no idea what learning it would be like… he just hoped it wasn't too complicated.

And the last lesson was something called Hohō, which confused Naruto more than any of the others. It just seemed so out of place that there would be an entire class about footwork when they were going to be learning both tai and kenjutsu… both of which required good footwork to master.

Upon finishing his musing he realised that they had all managed to arrive at the dojo of their first class, where a large man wearing a grey Kosode, black hakama and an open black kimono stood. He was completely bald and was wearing a large pair of glasses and a gold necklace with a simple pendant attached to it.

"I take it that everyone is here, so let's begin. My name is Ōnabara Gengorō and I will be your instructor for the entirety of your education here," the newly introduced instructor stated calmly, "there are a few rules that I have, one, no eating in the classrooms and you may only drink water. Two, all fighting will occur within supervised sparring sessions and no one may spar without a supervisor. Now, you with the sword, what is your name?"

"Huh? Me?" Naruto said with a hint of surprise in his voice, earning a nod of confirmation from the large man, "Uzumaki Naruto."

"I see… so the Sōtaichō was not exaggerating when he said that your Zanpakutō is a little long for you," the black robed man stated seriously, earning gasps of shock from the rest of the class.

"Wait! You mean that guy already has his Zanpakutō?! Came a call from a random member of the class, causing Naruto to turn to look at them.

"That is correct, his reason for being here is to learn how to use his shinigami powers whereas the rest of you are here to both unlock and learn how to use them," the large man announced to the class in a serious tone of voice, shocking everyone, though none more than Naruto himself.

"Hold on! You're telling me that I'm the only one here that already has shinigami powers?!" came Naruto's shocked question, earning a simple nod in response from the older man, "so, what does that mean for me?"

"What that will mean for you is simply that while the others are trying to unlock their shinigami powers, you will be learning how to communicate with your Zanpakutō, with the aim being to achieve the state known as shikai," the instructor stated, causing the blond to blink several times.

"Huh? I thought all I had to do to talk with my Zanpakutō was touch the blade with my heart… and all I had to do to use shikai was say his name," Naruto said with confusion clear in his voice… surely talking to your Zanpakutō was one of the easiest things to learn… right?

"I see… so you already have an idea of how to use Jinzen and the method of how to call out your shikai, but do you know it's name?" the older man asked calmly, completely confusing the blond in the process.

"Uh… why wouldn't I know it's name?" the whiskered child responded blankly, causing the instructor to blink several times at the blonds question.

"Because in order to learn the name of a Zanpakutō, you must first learn to harmonize with it. Until you can successfully learn to communicate with it you will not be capable of learning its name," Ōnabara told him seriously, earning a nervous expression off the blond.

"Heh, heh… you mean I WASN'T supposed to learn his name straight off the bat? Oops," came a nervous chuckle from the blond.

"Well then, if you have already achieved your shikai, then show me," the bald teacher ordered calmly, expecting the blond to simply be trying to make himself seem stronger than he actually was.

"Go ahead, you have yet to learn how to harness your reiyoku so you can't use my ability yet," Kagutsuchi stated calmly, causing the blond to suddenly gain a dumbfounded look on his face.

"_Huh? but I thought I had already used your ability?" _he thought in response as he placed his hand on the pitch black blade he had unsheathed.

"You did, however that was on instinct during a life or death situation so you can't clearly remember how to harness my power… and even then you didn't use them to their full potential, that is why you could hear the hollows scream… if the flames had been at full power then those creatures would've been completely disintegrated before they had a chance to cry," the sword explained to him calmly, shocking the blond yet again.

"Hikari sae mo moe: Kagutsuchi," Naruto called out quietly as he cleared his head and simply focused on activating his shikai.

Everyone around him could only look on in disbelief as the five foot long nodachi suddenly started to disperse, before flowing around the blonds arm and congealing into a coal black gauntlet.

Actually looking at his shikai for the first time, Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the glove. It reminded him of the spirit as every edge on it possessed flame like protrusions, accentuated by gold trim. The entire gauntlet covered the entirety of his forearm before flames like extensions carried on for about a foot past his elbow… all in all it possessed a regal look to its form.

The instructor couldn't stop his jaw from dropping at the sight, not only did the child already know the name of his Zanpakutō, but the weapon possessed the name of a GOD, and then the release command also told the man that the weapon was a fire type… a VERY powerful fire type, the sort that he did NOT want used within the academy.

"Alright Uzumaki, you are hereby forbidden from releasing your Zanpakutō within the academy," the bald man stated seriously, shocking everyone except the blond himself.

"That's fine by me," came the quick response from the azure eyed blond as his Zanpakutō returned to its bladed form, further shocking the rest of the class at the boy's quick acceptance of the teachers rule.

"It is good to see that you are prepared to follow orders, now I believe we have already wasted too much time, so let's start your first lesson on Hakuda," the large man told the class.

XXX XXX XXX

Letting himself fall onto his bed, Naruto couldn't help but think back on the lessons he had just been participating in.

Hakuda wasn't what he thought it would be, he had expected most of the lesson to revolve around physical conditioning, however that idea had quickly been proven to be wrong when the class revolved around learning how to fight unarmed. When the blond had asked about the lack of physical training he was shocked by what the teacher said… since their bodies were made out of spirit particles, their physical strength was directly linked to their spiritual energy and how much they used in each movement… though since no one had learned how to use their spiritual energy yet meant that their strength was a direct measure of their reiyoku… something Naruto quickly realised he possessed a significant amount more of than the rest of the class, with only Gin showing any power close to him.

Zanjutsu had proven to be quite simple, while the rest of the class had been meditating in an attempt to manifest their Zanpakutō's, Naruto was simply tasked with learning how to fight with the sealed form of his weapon… something he was beginning to get the hang of, with the basic idea of fighting with his weapon being to cut on the draw before making a second slice upon replacing the blade… though he found controlling it outside of the sheath relatively easy, he found the art of drawing the weapon was slightly quicker and much cleaner.

Kidō immediately made the blond sweat… after all it required him to memorise a four line incantation for each technique, something that would be several times harder for him to remember than a series of handseals, honestly he was just hoping that there would be some sort of shortcut that would allow him to use Kidō without the damn poem. However the class wasn't asked to learn any yet, instead they were just given instruction on how to harness their reiyoku which proved easy enough for the blond to do, having had experience with drawing on chakra when he was alive.

Then the one class he thought would make the least sense turned out to be his favourite, Hohō. What he originally interpreted as simple foot work was in fact an entire class that revolved around teaching high speed movement techniques that made Konoha's shunshin look slow.

Of course he still paid attention to the others in the class, especially Gin and Rangiku. He had to admit that he was surprised that out of everyone in the class, only Gin had managed to grab hold of his shinigami powers during the Zanjutsu class, though he was immediately given the task of learning his Zanpakutō's name and finished the class without even succeeding in going to his mindscape.

"(sigh) so it looks like I won't be able to practice with your shikai until after I graduate huh?" the blond muttered to his partner as he simply lay on his bed, resting his head on his arms.

"That would appear to be the case, however it doesn't really matter when you take into consideration that even with your exceptional amount of reiyoku you can barely use me once before exhausting yourself," Kagutsuchi told him calmly, causing the blond to let out a small sigh of depression.

"You know, I do think it kinda sucks, I mean I'm probably the only person that can't use their shikai freely… and it's all because you're too powerful," the whiskered child muttered while he thought about what the others shikai might be like… though in the end he simply gave up.

"I know, however you mustn't dwell on it, because of that disadvantage you possess, you will have even more reason to excel at everything you do," the sword stated in an attempt to cheer the blond up a little bit.

"But I've never excelled at anything I've done… well except pranks but those don't get graded," came the slightly depressed response from the child.

"True, however you have always had a few disadvantages when you were still alive," the blade told him calmly, piquing his interest.

"A few disadvantages?"

"You possessed far more chakra than anyone else in your class, including the instructors. Plus you learn by actually doing things, while they taught by telling you things, meaning you never had a real chance at learning what was being taught," the spirit further explained to him.

"Huh? But don't I have more reiyoku than everyone else in the class?" the spiky haired child asked in confusion.

"Indeed you do, however with chakra you must control it correctly, if you overload a jutsu then it will weaken it or even prevent you from using it completely, just like the bunshin," Kagutsuchi explained to him, causing his eyes to widen at the information, "however with reiyoku, if you use more, you increase the techniques power, in other words you cannot overload a Kidō like you can a jutsu."

"Oh… that's kinda good to know," Naruto admitted to the blade that simply remained silent.

The blond simply continued to rest on the comfortable mattress, it was easily three times better than any he had ever slept on before and he was ecstatic that he was finally capable of having something half descent to sleep on for a change.

He was eventually cut out of his revelry by a quiet knock on his door, causing him to sit up and think about who might be visiting him… the only people he knew that knew where he stayed were Rangiku and Gin… and that was only because they shared the same kitchen.

Slowly walking towards the door, he readied his blade in case he needed it, before slowly sliding the door open to reveal a familiar head of silver hair.

"Hello Naruto, Rangiku told me to ask you if you wanted to join us for dinner," the slitted eyed boy told the blond, earning several blinks off the blond at the direct delivery.

"From the way you said that, I take it that you don't want me to join you," the whiskered boy replied blankly, earning a blank stare off the other boy.

"No, I just don't really care if you do or don't," came the silver haired boy's statement.

"Wow… that makes me feel really welcome," Naruto said with a hint of sarcasm present in his voice.

"Yes, but if it isn't too much hassle then please come, although I don't really care if you do, Rangiku wants to make friends and since we all live in the same hall, she's decided that she wants to become friends with you," Gin explained seriously, causing the blonds eyes to soften slightly as he easily relented to the other boys request.

"(sigh) fine then, I'll join you," he responded as he placed Kagutsuchi back on his bed before leaving to have dinner with the only two people he knew in the academy.

XXX XXX XXX

Rangiku was a little nervous. She wanted to apologise for putting so much pressure on him before… she had just assumed that he was like the rest of the students, someone that had yet to learn anything… and what did he go and show them all at the beginning of the day? That he was more advanced in Zanjutsu than most sixth years, hell he was more advanced than some fully fledged shinigami.

So while Gin was out seeing if he would join them for dinner, she had taken to cooking the meal for the three… though right now she was beginning to regret not letting Gin do it, after all, he was better at… well everything to her, but especially cooking, for one thing he actually knew recipes while she just improvised, which resulted in some strange concoctions when she decided to get in a kitchen.

"Hey, how are you doing?" came a barely familiar voice as the other blond entered the kitchen and was quickly sat down at the small table by the fox like boy.

"Oh, I'm doing… kind of alright," the longer haired blond replied as she tried to remember what she used in her newest concoction should the blond boy ask what it was.

"Kind of alright? Is there a problem with dinner?" Naruto asked hoping that nothing had gone wrong.

"Don't worry, Rangiku just can't cook," Gin told him calmly, earning an indignant splutter off the blond girl.

"Oh? Well then, I guess this should be kinda fun," the other blond said with an anticipating smile, causing notable confusion within the others.

"What do you mean by that?" the curvaceous girl asked him blankly.

"Oh, it's just that the last person I met that said they couldn't cook made some really weird meals and some were pretty awesome… I wonder whatever happened to her?" Naruto mused to himself quietly.

"Oh, that's good to know… cause I can't actually remember everything I've put in this," the young girl admitted, "by the way, I wanted to say sorry about yesterday."

"Huh? Why? What did you do yesterday?" came the clueless answer from the blue eyed boy.

"Well, didn't I put you under quite a bit of pressure asking you about how you did in the entrance exam?"

"Well not really, you just confused me… can't blame you either, you didn't know I already have my shinigami powers and I thought everyone here did," the whiskered child said calmly unable to understand why she should apologise for a misunderstanding.

"So does that mean you forgive me?" Rangiku asked with a small amount of hope in her tone.

"What's to forgive?" came her answer.

"Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

Hatake Kakashi was a patient man. However he was quickly growing to dislike his team of genin.

Uchiha Sasuke was generally egotistical and overconfident when performing his duties. Haruno Sakura didn't put any effort into her tasks or training, instead choosing to spend her time idolising the Uchiha. The last member of the team was probably the worst in his opinion, Sai, one of Shimura Danzō's pets. Originally the third member of the team was supposed to be Uzumaki Naruto, in the hope that he could bring Sasuke out of his hatred and also give the pair competition to help them both grow in skill, but when he was found dead… everything was thrown out of the window and instead of a possible friend for the last Uchiha, the third member was instead someone assigned to ensure that the boy wouldn't defect, or would die trying.

The team had successfully completed a simple C-rank mission which involved escorting a merchant to a small town near the border of Hi no Kuni while protecting him from bandits. It had been simple enough and their presence alone had proven enough to keep any bandits at bay.

Quietly looking up as Sakura started shouting at Sai for making fun of Sasuke, Kakashi noticed a special messenger bird that most ninja knew the meaning of, the Chūnin exams were about to be held once again.

"_I think I'll leave my team out of it this time… they don't seem ready just yet," _Kakashi thought to himself as he bid his team farewell and vanished to attend the meeting that would be held about the exams.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto was beginning to grow bored. It had been a few months since he had joined the academy and he had quickly found that outpranking Gin was the hardest part of his life there so far.

Despite his initial reservation towards Kidō he had quickly discovered something that he would be eternally grateful for… that the incantations only helped direct the users Reiyoku, which meant that he only had to say the incantation correctly once and then he could simply memorise the energy flow and replicate it, which in turn further shocked the instructor who couldn't believe that there was someone that found it easier to use Kidō without the incantation than they did with it.

He had actually remembered hearing a teacher talk about letting him and Gin graduate early because of their immense talent and rapid development.

It actually sounded strange to him, in life he was the deadlast that had failed the graduation exam three times… but here he was the top of the class, with only Gin even coming close to him.

He still couldn't get over how his death was so much happier than his life, it was just something he had never believed would happen. He had always been scared that if he died then that would be it… he would just stopped existing. But instead he had come to a new world and was starting a brand new life where no one hated him for no reason and he was praised as a genius… well a practical genius anyway, he wasn't as good as his rival when it came down to theoretical exams.

But that was another thing that made Naruto happy, when he was alive the academy was nearly all useless facts and theories with lots of exercise and a bit of practical lessons mixed in, but here the academy was mostly practical lessons with a few lectures on subjects that you NEEDED to know in order to truly understand the job.

For example, in Konoha his class had to remember the name of the technique used to create the forest surrounding the village, whereas at the shinigami academy they only had to learn why it was necessary to purify hollows and perform Konsō on souls that still linger on in the human world.

It might not have been necessary for them to perform their duties, however it did at least give them an idea of why they were fighting, unlike in Konoha were children were raised to follow orders without questioning the reasoning behind them.

Letting out a small breath, the spiky haired blond decided to stop thinking so much and proceeded to attempt to clear his for sleep to take him.

XXX XXX XXX

Hyūga Hiashi couldn't believe his eyes. Laying right in front of him, was his oldest daughter, her wrists sliced in a deep cross, as her eyes were already glazed over, one of her own Kunai laying harmlessly on the floor next to her bed.

He knew she had been distraught over the Kyūbi Jinchūriki's death, but for her to commit suicide was too much for him to believe.

Calling out to a member of the branch family of the Hyūga clan, he proceeded to give them instructions to inform the Hokage of the devastating turn of events.

XXX XXX XXX

"N-Naruto-kun?!" came an invisible call as a lone ghost traversed the streets of Konoha, hoping that her voice would reach her 'love'.

Attached to her chest was a severed chain, she didn't know why it was stuck to her but it hurt when she tried to remove it, so she had quickly given up and proceeded to search for the boy she killed herself for.

"He can't hear you," came a voice from behind her, causing her to jerk around to see the owner of the voice, a young man with black hair in the same style as Naruto.

"W-who are you?" Hinata couldn't help but ask as she eyed the sword strapped to the man's waist.

"My name is of no importance… but I will tell you that I'm a shinigami," the stranger told her calmly, causing her eyes to widen in shock. Just as he was about to say something else, the young girl proceeded to ask him a question.

"Do you know where Naruto-kun is?!" the sheer amount of hope that radiated from the girls eyes caused the man to flinch, he didn't know who this 'Naruto' was however they would probably be in either soul society or hueco mundo… either way, the chances of the girl finding him before losing her memory of him was slim at best.

But at the same time, he knew that it wouldn't matter either way… not with what the girl had done.

"Yes, he is on the other side," the dark haired man said with a hint of sadness in his voice, "but you can't see him."

Immediately Hinata grew worried, why couldn't she see him? She had died just so she could see him again.

"W-why can't I see him?" came her nervous response as she witnessed the shinigami unsheathe his blade.

"Because you committed a grave sin… one that has ensured you will spend the rest of eternity in hell," and with that said, the spiky haired man proceeded to hit her forehead with the hilt of his blade.

As soon as the sword left her forehead, a massive set of red gates, decorated with human skeletons burst from the ground, causing the girl's eyes to go wide in fear.

"W-why?! What did I do wrong?! I've never hurt anyone, I've never stolen… I-I've never done anything wrong," she cried out as her eyes began to water.

"You took your own life…" was all the death god said as the denizens of hell caught hold of her, quickly dragging her into their domain, the door closing behind them, leaving the shinigami alone, unseen by the still living.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto regretted coming to the damned calligraphy class. He had nothing against the subject or the art, but as soon as he lay eyes on the teacher, the Fukutaichō of the fifth squad, a man by the name of Sosuke Aizen, his gut had started to hurt him.

He immediately remembered what Kagutsuchi had told him… that he should listen to his gut and he was certain that the man at the front of the classroom wasn't what he made himself out to be.

The man was of normal height and had hair that framed his face while a pair of glasses hid any glint of coldness that might have appeared in his eyes. Just like every other non Taichō shinigami, he wore the basic shinigami uniform.

"You know Gin… I don't trust this guy," Naruto muttered quietly to his rival as he hid his mouth with his hands in such a way that it simply looked like he was resting it on them.

"Really? He appears rather nice to me," the silver haired boy answered while imitating the blonds posture.

"Yeah, but my gut tells me he's not what he appears," the blond expanded to the slitted eyed boy as he continued to watch the shinigami write on the blackboard.

"You've got a good gut," Gin muttered quietly to himself though not quietly enough for the blond to miss, causing Naruto to look at him out of the corner of his eyes.

"Do you know something I don't Gin?" the spiky haired youth asked quietly.

"It's nothing," the silver haired boy said quickly but quietly.

"If it was nothing then you wouldn't have muttered it," Naruto retorted, earning a quick glance off the other boy.

"Fine then… it's nothing you need to worry about," the slitted eyed boy said with a small grin as his spiky haired friend looked at him blankly.

"Excuse me you two, but is there something you would like to say to the class," came the sudden call from the spectacled man known as Aizen.

"Yeah… this class is boring," was the only thing that came out of Naruto's mouth as he gave a disinterested look at the teacher, causing the rest of the class to look at him in shock at his clear disrespect towards a high ranked shinigami.

"Hahahaha, well I guess calligraphy isn't for everyone, besides, it was your teacher that told you all to be here, if you are really finding this that boring then feel free to leave anytime you want," the kind faced man told the blond with a jovial tone to his voice.

"Okay, bye," were the only words to leave Naruto's mouth as his packed his equipment and proceeded to leave the room without a second glance.

"Well, he certainly is a strange one now isn't he," the fukutaichō muttered with a small smile before turning his attention back to the class.

XXX XXX XXX

Outside the lecturing halls and in one of the numerous training fields within the campus, Naruto quickly began to take deep, calming breaths as he focused on deciding which skill to train now he wasn't trapped in a lecture hall.

It didn't take long for him to enter a relaxed posture as he raised his hands slightly, signifying that he was about to practice his Hakuda. Closing his eyes, the blond began to imagine his greatest opponent and the moves he would make, before he began to slowly move his body in an imaginary fight with the phantom.

Quickly picking up speed, Naruto flowed out a mesmerizing display of fluid strikes and flowing guards that the instructors had discovered the danger of through experience.

Several minutes into his practice, the whiskered boy's hands moved towards his blade as he began to practice his Zanjutsu while still incorporating his Hakuda. As soon as he changed to swordplay, the blond became a graceful display of weight shifting, fluid draws, slashes and sheathings with the occasional punch and kick flowing effortlessly into the routine.

The blond was pulled out of his trance by a sound he had heard on countless occasions… clapping.

Opening his eyes the boy was greeted by the sight of a man sitting at the edge of the training field. He was of average height with waist long, blond hair and light brown eyes. However what caught the boy's attention was the man's attire… a standard shinigami uniform with a white Haori, signifying his rank as a Taichō.

Naruto could only stare in shock at the man as he tried to figure out why a Taichō was at the academy.

"What? Have I got something on my face or something?" came a laid back call from the highly ranked shinigami, causing the other blond to snap back to reality.

"S-sorry Taichō-sama, I was just trying to figure out why you were here," Naruto explained hastily hoping that the obviously powerful man didn't take offence at his action.

"Uh, I see ya point… but shouldn't you be in class Uzumaki?" the brown eyed stranger asked, causing the young boy's eyes to widen slightly in shock.

"Excuse me Taichō but may I ask how you know me?" the spiky haired child asked, earning a blank look from the older man.

"Meh, all us Taichō's have been told about you, well except Kiganjō but he doesn't really count, it's not every day a person shows up and gains their shinigami powers within a few hours," the blond man told the other blond, "still, I can see why the academy has such high hopes for you."

"Huh? who? Kiganjō? And what do you mean the academy has high hopes for me?" the whiskered child asked with confusion clear in his voice.

"Uh, Kenpachi Kiganjō is the Taichō of squad eleven but he doesn't do anything, hell he doesn't even turn up for emergency meetings," the blond Taichō told him with an air of exasperation lacing his voice.

"If he's that bad then why isn't he replaced?" Naruto asked the man as he decided to sit down in front of the man.

"It's just something to do with squad eleven… it's rules say that the only way to take over that squad are to kill the current Taichō and no one will come forward to fight him," the brown eyed Taichō stated with a sigh at the end.

"Oh… that sucks."

"Yeah…" the older man replied. There was several seconds silence before it was broken by the fully fledged shinigami, "and to answer your other question, you've been at the academy for a few months and you're already at the same sort of level as a sixth year, the chances are that when you graduate, you will have to beat back most of the squads that want you to join them, unlike so many others who have to apply to each squad and hope for the best."

"Do you know about Gin?" Naruto asked the Taichō calmly, earning a simple stare from the man.

"He's in the same boat as you," the longer haired blond told him calmly, earning a look of relief from the whiskered boy, "now that I've answered you're questions, you can answer mine," came a statement as the highly ranked shinigami let out a toothy grin.

"Huh? sorry, what did you ask me?"

"(sigh) Aren't you supposed to be in class?" the long haired shinigami once again asked the student.

"Oh, that… the teacher let me leave," Naruto told the man with a small laugh, causing the man to look at him sceptically.

"And why did you leave my fukutaichō's class huh?" the brown eyed shinigami asked him calmly earning a look of nervousness off the younger boy upon finding out that the man he had been talking to was in fact that Aizen guy's Taichō.

"W-well, ya see… I just can't get into calligraphy," Naruto managed to tell the older man, though the man's stare never left his eyes.

"You're lying," it was a simple statement that held a lot of power, this man had been able to see through his lie because of catching him off guard… if Naruto was to be honest it was a good experience. "tell me the truth, why did you leave Aizen's class."

"I… I can't bring myself to trust him," Naruto admitted, he hadn't wanted to tell the man but knew that if he lied the man would just keep calling him out on it till he got the truth, of course he now knew that he was going to get in this Taichō's bad book.

"I see… let me give you a bit of advice then, keep your distance from him… if you don't I can't guarantee your safety," the Taichō told him with complete seriousness in his tone.

"Huh? what do you mean?" Naruto asked slightly scared by the shinigami's words.

"(sigh) I'll be honest with you, I don't trust him at all," the experienced man stated, causing Naruto's eyes to widen in shock at the statement.

"Hold on, you don't trust your own fukutaichō?" Naruto asked for confirmation quietly, earning a small sigh from the man.

"There's an old saying, it goes 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', it is a lot easier to make sure he isn't doing anything if we are supposed to stay close," the long haired man explained to the youngster, earning a blank look on Naruto's face.

"I see… thank you… uh… sorry, what's your name?" Naruto asked while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Shinji, Hirako Shinji, Taichō of squad five," the older man stated with a noticeable amount of enthusiasm… and a grin that showed off his upper teeth.

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, shinigami in training," came an equally enthusiastic introduction from the blond child, before he felt his head nearly hit the floor.

"Baka! I already know who you are!" Shinji shouted indignantly as he hit the young boys head to the floor.

"Ow! That hurt ya bastard!" the spiky haired child shouted indignantly as he clutched his head.

"Tough shit gaki," the Taichō stated as he turned to walk towards the academy, that is before he found his face slammed into the grass courtesy of an angry kick from the younger blond.

"THE HELL YA KICK ME FOR?!" Shinji shouted at the child after getting back to his feet almost instantly.

"THAT WAS FOR HITTING ME!" Naruto shouted back, not prepared to be beaten in a shouting match.

"You'd attack a Taichō for such a minor reason?" the white clad man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't give a shit if you're a Taichō or a sewer worker, you hit me so I hit you back," Naruto told him with a glare.

"Stupid gaki, you're supposed to respect Taichō's."

"Forget it, how can I respect someone like you?" the whiskered child asked with a grin before finding himself hurled across the field courtesy of a kick from the irritated shinigami.

"How's THAT for a reason to respect me?" came the smug question as the long haired man let out a toothy grin.

"Screw you!" was the only thing the brown eyed shinigami heard as a familiar foot appeared imbedded in his face.

XXX XXX XXX

Later that night Naruto was sulking in his room. In the end his brawl with the Taichō had been interrupted by Aizen, Gin and Rangiku passing the training field as they left the classroom… he had been extremely angry at the fact that Shinji had called him the loser just because he had to leave for his next class.

Of course at the same time he couldn't help but feel uneasy about fukutaichō Aizen, from what he could see both Gin and Shinji knew something about him and that didn't sit well with him. Neither was prepared to reveal what they knew to him which meant that it was something that they felt they couldn't tell him.

"I hope you know what you are doing, if you follow that path then there is no guarantee that you won't be caught up in whatever this Aizen person is planning," Kagutsuchi spoke into his mind as he lay quietly.

"_I know but I've heard what Shinji said before… so I think it could be worth it to keep my enemies close," _came the blonds calm reply as he began to think over his long term goals for death.

"Of course, there is wisdom in those words and I will support you whatever your decision, however I do request that you think your course of action through before choosing to take it."

"_Don't worry about it… I've matured a lot since I came here, I won't just charge headfirst into a situation anymore," _Naruto assured his partner as he allowed sleep to claim him.

XXX XXX XXX

The mood was sombre in Konohagakure no sato as villagers from all walks of life mourned the loss of the heir to the most powerful clan within Konoha. Everyone that knew her was aware of her pure heart and wish to better the Hyūga clan… but none of them would've thought she would throw her life away because of a crush.

"Pathetic… mourning the loss of such a worthless brat," came a cold call that went unheard by the mourners, "why do they even bother with a moron that cared about the Kyūbi brat?"

The offending party would've been familiar to the group if they could see or hear him, his shoulder length silver hair was quite distinct within the village after all.

Despite the fact he was dead, he couldn't be happier. His body had finally given out to Mitarashi Anko's torture methods and he was no longer restrained within Konoha's T&I department… which he personally thought was a fate much worse than death.

The only thing that annoyed him was the fact that he could no longer interact with anything… well that and that strange Samurai he had seen sending the deceased Hyūga heir to hell. He had been trying his hardest to avoid that strangers attention because he knew full well that if he was spotted his fate would be to burn in the underworld for eternity.

Suddenly his insulting shouts ceased as he clutched his chest in agony. Looking at the offending area of his body, he noticed something he hadn't expected, the chain that had been bolted to his chest since he died started to disintegrate at a rapid pace, he had noticed it slowly eroding before but had never seen it occur this quickly.

He didn't know what was happening, only that his mind was filled with pain he had never experienced before, not even T&I had made him feel this bad before. The only thing he knew was that he would either cease to exist or the pain would end… either way he wouldn't regret his decision to avoid the black clad samurai… and with those thoughts his mind was engulfed in darkness.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't help but let out a sigh as his Hakuda opponent fell for the seventh time in just five minutes, he had hoped he would be paired with Gin again but the teacher had told them that the other students could benefit from being paired against opponents that were out of their league… not that Naruto agreed with that statement, from what he could tell his opponent hadn't improved at all during their spar, instead they just seemed to become more desperate to stop him from hitting them.

This did make him slightly depressed, the academy was no longer boring because it was all lectures like the ninja academy, instead it was boring because it wasn't challenging. The only reason he didn't quit was because he only had three more months before the graduation exams, which he had been informed he would be allowed to attend.

He hadn't been too concerned about it when the teacher had shown him what was required of a student to pass… both he and Gin were easily capable of completing all of the requirements.

So that left him with nothing to do except go to class, prank people, practice his skills and grow bored. That was why the number of pranks that had been occurring in the academy had been rapidly increasing over the past few months, both Naruto and Gin couldn't help but laugh at the victims as the investigation into who was responsible for the chaos was instigated and the ones that were supposed to put an end to the pranks ended up becoming victims themselves.

"_I wonder how everyone back in Konoha's doing… heh, what am I saying, they'll be fine,"_ the spiky haired blond thought to himself as he proceeded to strike down his sparring partner once again.

XXX XXX XXX

The village of Konoha was in a panic. The Chūnin exam finals were being hosted in the village once again however the tournament was disturbed almost immediately by an invasion from Otogakure and Sunagakure.

It wouldn't have been as bad if it wasn't for the fact that one of Suna's participants was a Jinchūriki and had released the bijū sealed within him… the damage he had caused was already immeasurable as the beast proceeded to crush everything in its way.

Standing on the roof of the Kage's booth of the arena, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but sweat as he was trapped in a box of burning walls, facing his old student… and both his mentors that his student had resurrected to help fight him.

Kakashi however was busy trying to get his students to safety as the invading forces pushed further into the village… only one of them was ready for full on conflict and that wasn't good enough to let the entire team fight.

The entire village shook as a gigantic toad with two swords strapped to its back fell on top of the beast formed from sand and an old man with waist length white hair jumped onto the beast. Within ten seconds the most destructive element of the invasion collapsed in on itself, a display that was witnessed by every member of the village.

Where once there were people that had begun to give up, there was now a burning will that would fight for its home, regardless of how many invaders must die.

XXX XXX XXX

The battle had finally ended. Suna and Oto had retreated… but not without cost. The man once hailed as the 'shinobi no kami' now lay dead, an intricate seal etched onto the flesh of his stomach. Although he was the only notable casualty, he wasn't the only one. All around the village lay the corpses of men and women that fought to protect their village, each of them sacrificing themselves to help protect everyone they cared about.

Unseen by the populace however, there were two beings at work, one, the shinigami that had been working there for nearly a year, the other… a ravenous beast, ensnaring and devouring all the souls it could find while avoiding the black clad death god… it wouldn't even consider fighting the man until it's power had grown to a level he wouldn't be a threat, that was the nature of this young hollow.

Shiba Kaien wasn't a fool, he could sense the Reiatsu of a hollow taking advantage of the countless deaths, that was why he had called for reinforcements. He wasn't prepared to chase after the creature, he knew from experience that whenever he moved near it, it would flee back to Hueco Mundo, before reappearing in a different area of the village, so instead, he focused his attention on completing as many Konsō's as possible so the beast wouldn't be able to eat as many souls.

The shinigami couldn't help but let out a small smile when he felt the presence of new shinigami joining the field, causing the hollow to retreat and in turn, save several more souls from its appetite.

"Shiba-sama, we're here to assist you with the souls created by the war," a random shinigami stated as he appeared in the same area as the dark haired man.

"Thanks, but can I ask you to take over from me for awhile, I need to report something to the Taichō," Kaien asked the lower ranking officer.

"Of course Shiba-sama," the other shinigami replied, earning a simple thank you from the stronger man as he pushed his Zanpakutō into the air, causing a large distortion to appear in the area surrounding it, which was quickly replaced by a set of traditional Japaneese sliding doors.

When the doors opened the dark haired shinigami proceeded to walk through them… ready to inform his Taichō of the cowardly hollow he had sensed in Konohagakure no sato.

* * *

Now as I said before this story will not be updated, it may be rewritten at some point however that is dependent largely on a poll I set up on my proper profile.


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